1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-purpose cooking appliance, particularly to a household cooking appliance to be used as oven, barbecue or fryer.
Different cooking methods typically require dedicated appliances. Ovens are suitable to cook food according to many different recipes, but are not suitable to grill food put directly in contact with a broiler, like in an outdoor barbecue. Also, deep-frying food requires a dedicated apparatus provided with an oil tight receptacle or pan equipped with a heating element.
2. Description of the Related Art
DE 36 00 294 A1 discloses a household cooking assembly comprising components to be associated and mounted on each other to form either an oven with a heating element above a cooking chamber, or a deep-frying pot with a heating element at the bottom of the pot. The two functions are achieved by interchanging a heating element fastened to a handle, and by properly assembling certain components to form a suitable cooking space. These operations are relatively complicated and the appliance is not of the ready-to-use type.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,072 discloses a portable cooking apparatus to be used as oven or grill, depending on which side of a heated place is in contact with the food to be cooked, one side having a smooth surface for use as oven and the other side having an indented surface for use as grill. In both cases the food is in contact with the heating element.
CA 1 134 892 discloses a portable electric oven comprising a heated base and a heated cover hinged to the base. The cover has a refractory glass window to enable observation of food being cooked or baked.
WO 03/086156 A2 discloses a cooking appliance to deep-fry food articles, which comprises a receptacle with a lower electrical heater body to be immersed in the frying oil and an upper electrical heater body mounted in the lid of the receptacle, to be energized if accelerated heating of oil is desired. In a different embodiment the electrical heater body, instead of being mounted within the lid, is pivotally mounted within the receptacle and has an horizontal operative position and a vertical inoperative position. The appliance is essentially designed for frying or boiling food, not for baking or broiling.
There thus exists a need for a household cooking appliance that enables to perform different cooking methods in one single apparatus of the ready-to-use type, thus allowing to save space and time to users.